Tech Rave - Smartphones have paved the way for new technology

Nest. Uber. Breathometer. Hue. Chromecast. Instagram. Kevo. Apple Pay. Whatsapp. As smartphones have become ubiquitous, new hardware, products, and services are being introduced to better our lives as consumers. Once upon a time, we wouldn't leave the house without our wallets/purses and keys. Today, we don't just make sure that we have our smartphone with us when we leave the house, we have them by our side constantly - they're often the first thing we reach for in the morning, and often the last thing we touch before going to bed. As I noted in my last post, the average person spends 3 hours on their smartphones everyday. Smartphones have replaced our watches, cameras, and dedicated GPS units, but they've helped to create all new categories of products and brand new services. 

Take Uber as the perfect example. Anyone living in a big city like Chicago or NYC knows how obnoxious hailing a cab in a rainstorm or in freezing temperatures used to be (upstreaming, anyone?). But that's largely a thing of the past. Now, you can hail any type of car service - taxi, black car, or even carshare - with a few simple taps on your smartphone. After a driver accepts your fare, you're notified which cab/car is yours, and off you go.

Snapchat

Two of the fastest growing social networks, Instagram and Snapchat, are beating older competitors like Facebook because they were designed for smartphone use. Think about that for a minute - Facebook works fine as a mobile app, but it's better when used from your computer (especially when you're supposed to be working). Snapchat and Instagram don't even really work from a computer. The creators of these apps knew that social apps should focus on use from a smartphone; but to the point of this post, Snapchat and Instagram can only exist in world full of smartphones. 

There are other products out there that you may not even heard of because they're in the nascent stages of their development and introduction to the consumer market. The Kwikset Kevo is such an example - it's a Smart Lock that pairs to your smartphone using Bluetooth Low Energy to automatically lock and unlock your front door as you leave and get back home. Although the Kevo falls squarely into the "because we can" category, I can see it replacing the physical keyring in the near future because of the sheer convenience of such a product not only in daily use, but when giving access to your home to others without the need for duplicating your own keys.

Smartphones have taken up residence as one of the most used, and perhaps, most important, things in our lives. We live in an exciting time, and as CES approaches next week, I can't wait to see what new technology visionaries have dreamt up to make our lives easier, safer, and more enjoyable.